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Penn Women Down Dartmouth for Ivy Crown

from press release

PHILADELPHIA – History did not repeat
itself.

Much like it did last year, Penn opened up an early lead on
Dartmouth in the Ivy League Tournament championship game. Unlike
2012, Penn did not allow the Big Green to come back in the game,
putting the clamps on Dartmouth’s secondary scoring in a 10-7
win to claim the school’s second Ivy League Tournament
championship and earn an automatic bid to Penn’s seventh
consecutive NCAA Tournament.

The Class of 2013 opened its Penn careers with an Ivy Tournament
crown, and members of that group were instrumental in the win.
Caroline Bunting had four goals, tying her career high and leading
all Penn players in the game. She was 2-for-2 on free positions,
part of a dominant day on the line for the Quakers. Fellow seniors
Maddie Poplawski (two goals) and Meredith Cain (one goal, one
assist) saw to it that the Class of 2013 accounted for 75% of
Penn’s scoring in the game.

Penn was aggressive in the attack zone all game long, drawing 29
fouls from the Big Green and earning six free position attempts.
Penn was good on five of those six eight-meter attempts, including
3-for-4 in the first half.

Poplawski was the first to score on a free position, drawing one 55
seconds into the game and popping in Penn’s first goal of the
game. Just under the five-minute mark, Hana Bowers tied the game
for the Big Green, picking up a good bounce for the Big Green from
Liz Calby’s failed ground-ball scoop and going high with the
score. That was the last time the game would be tied – and
the last time Dartmouth would score for 29:36 of game play.
Ferguson would make four saves and the Penn defense would cause
three Dartmouth turnovers over that span.

At the same time the defense was blanking the Big Green, the
offense was scoring five goals to build a 6-1 lead. Bunting started
the run with a free position at 7:48, before Courtney Tomchik added
a free position goal at 11:43. With just under 10 minutes to play
in the half, Iris Williamson made two quick moves and dodged to
goal, firing to give Penn a 4-1 lead. Bunting would make it 5-1
just before the break, striking with 11 seconds left in the opening
period.

At the break, it would have been easy to recall the 2012
championship game where Penn held a halftime lead and was unable to
hold on. This year, instead of a slight 3-1 lead, Penn had a more
comfortable 5-1 advantage. Instead of going cold for 43:48 of game
play, Penn would strike quickly in the second period to continue
building its lead. Just as she did in the first half, Poplawski
began a half scoring on a free position for the Quakers, hitting
twine 1:59 into the second period.

The Big Green would not wilt, though, breaking its own long scoring
drought with a pair of goals 3:13 apart. It was Calby first and
then Bowers – just as it was all afternoon for the Big Green.
The two combined for all seven goals and nine of ten points for the
Big Green.

After Bowers scored to make it a 6-3 game with 22:22 to play, Penn
stymied the rally with the next three goals of the game.

Nina Corcoran struck for just her second goal of the season 33
seconds after Bowers score, taking a quick pass off a Dartmouth
turnover and bursting down field to score. Bunting would add
the next two for the Quakers, her fourth of the game coming via a
nice feed from classmate Cain with 17:23 to play.

Calby would do her part to give Dartmouth a chance, scoring three
more times down the stretch. Her final score was Dartmouth’s
only eight-meter goal of the game and came with 5:02 to play. The
Quakers would win the ensuing draw, but Kristen Giovanello made a
save for the Big Green to give her team possession.

Before the Big Green could clear their own defense end, Caroline
Bunting picked off Dartmouth’s clearing pass to allow Penn to
run more time off the clock. Dartmouth would force one more
turnover, and Frances Bird took a shot with 2:17 remaining –
but that was denied by Ferguson for her eighth save of the day and
20th of the tournament to set a new Ivy League Tournament record
for saves over two games.

The final seconds were not without frantic moments, as Dartmouth
pulled its goalie and looked to find a miracle. It appeared the Big
Green would have another chance with 34 seconds remaining after a
Penn foul, but the Big Green were offside. A throw resulted, and
Meg Markham picked up that ground ball to run out the clock and
send Penn’s sideline into celebration mode.

The Quakers are the first team to win multiple Ivy League
Tournament championships (2010, 2013) and improve to 2-1 all-time
in Tournament finals. Penn’s five wins in ILT play are most
among any Ivy program.

Penn will await its NCAA Tournament opponent which will be named
Sunday night via the NCAA Selection Show on NCAA.com at 9 p.m. EST.
The Tournament has expanded to 26 teams for 2013.

Notes: Lucy Ferguson set an ILT record for most saves in a single
Tournament with 20 (19 – Emily Leitner, Penn – 2012;
Erin Tochihara, Princeton – 2011) … Caroline Bunting
tied an ILT record for most goals in a championship game with four
(Liz Calby, Dartmouth – 2013; Danielle Tetreault, Harvard
– 2011) … Bunting’s four goals are also tied for
most in a single game during total tournament play … The
three-goal margin of victory is the largest in ILT history …
Meredith Cain became Penn’s all-time leading scorer in ILT
play with 15 points … She will graduate as Penn’s
leader in ILT goals with 12 ... Caroline Bunting, Meredith Cain,
Lucy Ferguson, Meg Markham and Maddie Poplawski were named
All-Tournament ... Lucy Ferguson was named Most Outstanding Player
in the Tournament ... Meredith Cain set a new Penn mark for
All-Tournament selections with three.